Research & Publications

Research behind Kaleidoscope Connect

The Kaleidoscope Connect framework is based on the best youth development research for treating, teaching, counseling, neighboring, and parenting children and teens. (i.e. Hawkins and Catalano’s Communities that Care, Benson’s Developmental Assets, Kretzman and McNight’s Building Communities from the Inside Out, Peterson’s Rule of Five, Pittman’s Dashboard, Werner’s Children of Kauai, the Positive Youth Development movement, Social Norming, and others).

The critical components of Kaleidoscope Connect’s implementation have been developed from the application of research-based programs that foster and build systemic social relationships with individual teachers, counselors, and other caring adults within and outside of the school environment.

Original Research

Fostering Resilience in Middle School Students

The University of Montana Department of Psychology, led by Dr. Jacqueline Brown, is conducting a research study with middle school students in Western Montana.

Preliminary results suggest that when looking at traits of resilience, positive resilience scores (RSCA Mastery and Relatedness) are increasing, whereas negative traits (RSCA Emotional Reactivity) are decreasing. Consequently, overall students are exhibiting increases in their ability to relate to other people and positive internal characteristics from the beginning of the first year that Kaleidoscope Connect was implemented, to the beginning of the second year of implementation.

On the other hand, students are showing decreases in their level of vulnerability and tolerance, indicating that they are better able to deal with difficult events in their life over time. Furthermore, when examining scores of problem behavior (BESS), average mean scores are decreasing over time, suggesting that student risk for problem behavior is decreasing.

Defining Webs of Support: A new Framework to Advance Understanding of Relationships and Youth Development

Research behind ClassBright Evaluate

Coming Soon!

Dr. Daniel Lee, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Leadership, University of Montana, is currently conducting research on the efficacy of Classbright Evaluate. The results of his study will be published soon.